Most of the photographic slide mounting machines in use today utilize a movable conveyor belt to transport mounted slides from the mounting machine to a collecting station where they are manually packed by an operator. The collecting station may include a bin or series of bins into which the mounted slides fall from the end of the conveyor belt, and which do not hold more than 50 to 100 slides. A typical slide mounter has a magazine in which a supply of 500 mounts can be provided so that it is a great convenience to provide a carrier which has a similar capacity so that the mounter can be operated continuously for each filling of the magazine.
This invention provides an inexpensive and compact mechanism having sufficient capacity to collect and arrange a great number of upstanding slides into a horizontal stack confined within a carrier cassette. Said cassette fits over and encloses a packing conveyor belt, which receives the mounted slides from the slide mounting and delivering machine and packs the same into the cassette thus eliminating the manual packing operation and the need for additional space at the end of the belt, necessary in prior art collecting devices. The carrier cassette requires replacing only when the slide mount magazine is filled and provides easy transportation and storage for the slides packed in it.
Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide a mechanism and method for automatically collecting and stacking in a carrier cassette, large quantities of slides being delivered from a slide mounting machine; and for confining said slides in said cassette for easy removal, transportation and storage.
More particularly, it is an object of this invention to provide an elongated slide carrier cassette which is positioned so as to enclose a conveyor belt which receives mounted slides from a slide mounting machine, said cassette collecting and packing the mounted slides received from said mounting machine and holding said slides in upstanding horizontally stacked relation along said belt, permitting the stacked slides to be easily removed from the belt for transportation and storage in said cassette.